Sometimes you just know it's time to update your home page.
Like when your favorite writer (who happens to be your significant other) mentions that your bio page sucks. And how right she is.
So you start working on the bio. The problem is, it's difficult. So you start thinking about the other stuff you'd rather be doing. Then you think, "I should update the Blowout site." Then as you're working on that, you think, "I should update my home page so it links to this site." One thing leads to another, and suddenly you have a new home page, but your bio still sucks. What are you to do?
One more thing: you wanna buy a watch?
Sometimes you just know it's time to change the answering machine message.
The past couple months, we've had a message from "Joe and Lisa's House of Small Kitchen Gadgets." This has caused a lot of bad jokes from people leaving messages, but not too much confusion.
Last night, however, we received a message from TGI Friday's, asking us to fax them billing information for a microwave oven that they ordered from us.
Ahem.
And for those of you unaware of just how pervasive the answering machine is in today's pop culture, you might just want to watch some films listed by the IMDB in the Answer-Phone Genre. In fact, you probably already have.
I am always still taken a bit by surprise when people ask Joe and me, "Do you have jobs in Chicago? Do you have a place to live?" and act shocked when we say no.
But the truth is, it's not like we have no clue. Joe will continue to do contract web design, and I may too. Joe will explore the music scene. I'm applying to substitute teach. And until we find an apartment, we're staying with my brother and sister-in-law and visiting with other friends and family.
It is not, as some friends have called it, "flying by the seats of our pants."
I was always, and still am, the sort of person who wants everything planned out ahead of time. I like certainty. But that doesn't stop me in embarking on a big move like this. I'm still planning ahead! I'm packing, 6 weeks in advance! I'm doing housing research, 8 weeks in advance! I got my sub application packet for fall semester, when the spring term has not yet ended!
Besides, the important things are certain: I will find a job, I will have a place to live, and I will have my sweet lovin' man beside me.
No link in this entry, as you're already at my sweet lovin' man's web site.
I've been out of town for several days for Isaac's graduation, returning tomorrow, and I see that Lisa has been writing stuff. Jealous am I, and I must counter with my own little ditties. <grin>
Today I had a lovely visit with Steph and Morgan today. I helped Steph plant some things and lay some slate for a walkway in their garden. Their place is quite pretty out there in the middle of the Vermont wilderness. That's not the lifestyle for me at the moment, but it certainly is nice.
Morgan and I commented on our switched hair styles, his now being long while mine is short. Morgan also said he checked this site out for a bit to "catch up" and saw instead a great deal of talk of bras and breasts. Ha ha ha.
I'm enjoying hanging out with Isaac and Steph, but I'm also looking forward to being back in my own home tomorrow.
And now, it's time to go look for boxes in the streets of Burlington. Apparently. So Isaac tells me. He's moving to Maryland in a couple weeks and needs to find some boxes to pack stuff up in. Off we go.
Joe forwarded me this guy's recommendations of Chicago neighborhoods, so I did some follow-up research to figure out just where these places were. The problem seems to be that most maps seem to have just the street names, or just the neighborhood names, but not both. Moreover, different neighborhood guides don't even coincide!
However, I did find a couple helpful resources, though they don't mesh completely: an (almost too small)) online neighborhood map and a neighborhood guide that gives a description (probably not entirely trustworthy, as they seem overly complimentary) of many of the neighborhoods.
Now, the map I like, though it still isn't detailed streetwise, is the Big Stick Chicago Neighborhood Map. The catch is, it's $25. But it looks damn cool!
What I'd really like, though, is a map that includes all street names, neighborhood boundaries, public transporation lines, parks, schools, and major landmarks, preferably in a spiral-bound book. Anyone?
One really should go to bed at this hour, when one has narcoleptic tendencies and has to get up at 6:30 AM the next morning. But one was foolish enough to do a Google search on her name, and she couldn't resist posting a link to a web page that glorifies her! That's me on that list! Me!
Moreover, 10 out of the first 20 search results refer to me, me, me! And only two of the results are for pages on chellman.org. I'm so special!
(Shut up, Joe... just because your name's so weird, you think you're really something, don't you? 26 of the first 30 search results... humbug!)
Stephanie is right. I need to go on a mission for bra-fitting. The last time I was fitted was in like junior year of high school, and it was at Mervyn's, which was actually okay... but clearly I — or my breasts, anyway — have moved on.
Meanwhile, I'm shipping off my old, ill-fitting bras right up the road to El Cerrito for the Bra Ball! This is an interesting piece of modern art which has actually been a part of some controversy (though perhaps not what you'd expect), and it's doubly cool because it requires the participation of thousands of women. Currently, about 11,500 bras are still needed, so send your raggedy and/or uncomfy bras Emily's way!
(Incidentally, should 11,500 seem an impossible number, just consider that about 3 months ago I looked at the web site and at that time they needed 12,000! Clearly progress is being made!)
In four days, my brother graduates from the hallowed halls of UVM with a degree in Wildlife Biology. I'll be there with him celebrating the end of an era. Whee!
He's going to grow up to be just like Steve Irwin. Or not. He does have a spot-on impression, though.
Congratulations, Bruddah! From me, Lisa, and yes, even Harvey, who is a great lover of animals.
Birthdays are nice. Getting a bit older hasn't really changed the way I feel about them. I still like having people wish me a happy birthday and getting to have my way for a day. I also like giving my friends their chance to do the same on their birthdays, even if they're not quite as excited by the whole thing as I am.
Within one week on either side of my birthday, many people who are important to me were also born:
One of my great-grandmothers, April 27. She just called me, and that to me is pretty cool.
One of my grandfathers, May 1. He and I spoke on his birthday.
Krista, my best friend from high school, also May 1. She and I are the same age, +/- 2 days, and we talked on her birthday too.
And then there's the other things that have happened on May 3.